What to plant

[Chic Rustler]

Havent made up my mind yet. Im thinking more staples like potatoes and sweet corn. I have 3 beds. One of them garlic, one will be onions and another really big carrots.
My wife makes the best canned carrots!

Anyhow. I might do a couple tomatoes but thats it. No squash this year, the squash bugs and vine borers were really bad last season so i want to throw them off. Maybe a row of okra just to sell pickled okra. Then potatoes and corn. What are some other good staples? Maybe some pinto beans and black eyed peas. We still have ALOT of green beans from our yard long beans so i probably wont need any more green beans this year. That was a bumper crop!

Any other ideas?

 

[tortoise]

Swiss chard? fresh young leaves for salad, the greens can be canned, the stalks can be used like celery, the stalks can be pickled. The plants produce all season, just keep picking stalks off for continuous harvest. I had about a dozen swiss chard plants last year and they were great and prolific. No bolting!

 

[Britesea]

If you shred the potatoes and dehydrate them, they make excellent hash browns- they cook up without getting all mushy

 

[NH Homesteader]

Sweet potatoes! I love sweet potatoes, they hate my weather.

 

[Mini Horses]

If you already have the seeds for things the chickens will eat, throw them out there. Those rascals eat every day and love fresh greens. Mine free range and they still jump on veggies! (and chicken feed as well ) So I like to dump all I can to them to keep that feed bill down. By the way, mine love turnips and they can stay in ground until you pull & feed. You often have rabbits, give them some greens.

I'd say, look at what you eat and can grow. Plant as much of that as you can use. No tomatoes? That's the one thing most feel they can't go without. For me, that is true.

Also, once your plants are pretty well established, the chickens will go in and eat bugs for you. Yeah, some veggies, too but not so much destruction except very young plants. Those are toast!

Limas? Melons? Pumpkins? Winter squash? Sunflowers (seeds)?

You've had good success in the past, some failures -- we all have that. It's a lot of work!! Maybe you need a break? Ask your wife what she thinks you need to plant. May be different from your idea. Plenty of beans? Remember those kids are growing and so will the grocery bills.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Yeah we grew peas last year. Bout the time it got warm (may) they died off. Thats more of a snack type thing.

I may just stick with corn and potatoes. You can eat them with every meal. And then do legumes after i harvest corn.

 

[Chic Rustler]

I suck at carrots. Mainly because the seeds are so dang small and i over crowd them. This year i might try some pelletized seed. I really like canned carrots.

The problem for me with succession planting is the crop isnt usually done when its time to plant again or the weather goes wonky. Ive had success following peas with pepper transplants and corn with black eyed peas but thats about it.

Right now im toying with the idea of making low tunnels for my beds and starting them early.

 

[CrealCritter]

Sweet peppers are a must around here we cook with peppers a lot. Wife makes great salsa with hotter peppers.

One season of dried herbs will be enough for atleast 5 years of use around here. Basil, thyme, oregano, sage, dill, etc...

I'm going to plant a lot more onions this year, you can chop and freeze them, dehydrate them, can onion soup and I hope to get some bigger ones to make up bags of onion rings for the freezer.

Also going to plant more potatoes this year again lots you can do with them also.

Ok maybe I lied... i just checked herbs stash and they are way more older than 5 years. herbs grown in 2011 & 2012, still got atleast another year to go

 

[NH Homesteader]

Now I want to grow Swiss chard!

 

[Britesea]

In your area, you might even be able to grow swiss chard as a perennial. I know we had a swiss chard that was over 3 years old when we moved from CA-- it was a good 2 1/2-3 foot in diameter, about 4 feet tall. Even when it got covered with aphids in late summer, that didn't kill it-- it just turned into a buffet for the beneficials, and I threw those leaves to the chickens, lol